


Daughter of the Sun

by Rogercat



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: Babies, Brother-Sister Relationships, Children, Dorne, Elia Martell Fanworks Week, Elia Martell-centric, F/M, Family Bonding, Father-Daughter Relationship, Growing Up, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parenthood, Pre-Canon, Siblings, Singing, Water Gardens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: Elia was born premature, but her family never gave up hope for her to survive





	Daughter of the Sun

Year 256 AC, just before dawn at Sunspear in Dorne: 

Aria Martell, the currently ruling Princess of Dorne, woke up with a strange feeling of that something were missing. The other side of the bed showed that her husband must have gotten up not long ago, since the spot formed after his body was still warm. 

“Ishan? Ishan, where are you?” 

Could he be in the nursery again, with little Elia? He had been so worried with their daughter when she was born one month too early and every day was a battle for survival for the little princess.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Indeed the current Prince Consort of Dorne, originally born as a third son from House Jordayne, was already in the nursery despite how early it was in the morning, sitting in a chair at the window and holding little Elia against his own chest for warmth even with a soft cotton blanket over her. Ihsan began to sing softly for his daughter: 

“ _ Daughter of the Sun _

_ Little Elia, you are blessed _

_ with the warmth of the sun  _

_ Dorne, your homeland _

_ is the land of the Sun  _

_ Draw strength from this sun _

_ that raises every day without fail _

_ Even on cloudy days, with rain  _

_ and storms, when you can not see it _

_ the sun shall always raise  _

_ Blood of Nymeria and Mors Martell _

_ runs in your veins, together with _

_ the distant blood of the dragon king  _

_ But the sun shall always raise everyday,  _

_ and so shall you as well _

_ Daughter of the Sun  _

The song lyrics did not match that well, since Ihsan did improvise without having a clear meaning behind the song, but little Elia stirred against him just as the dawn began to colour the sky. Hopefully this meant that she would defeat the Stranger for yet another day in her short life so far. 

“Ihsan?”

Aria entered the nursery when she heard the song, and felt relief at seeing little Elia moving around, even cry weakly like a tiny kitten for milk from her wet nurse now when she had woken up from her nap.

“I did not want her to be alone, despite her nursemaids and wet nurse.” 

Of course, he had grieved little Mors and Olyar so much, when both of the boys died as infants. It had not helped with her several miscarriages, either, and everything pointed towards their firstborn Doran remaining a only child unless Elia managed to survive past infanthood as well. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Elia did survive, and was joined one year later in the nursery by Oberyn, who his parents agreed to be the last child from their marriage. 

  
  


The Water Gardens were more than just private retreat to House Martell, it was a place where Aria could actually feel like a mother to her children and be present in their lives without her duties as the ruling Princess of Dorne preventing her from being with her family. 

“Elia, Oberyn!” 

Ihsan had to stop running at feeling the shortness of breath he had struggled with his whole life. Somewhere ahead, a similar wheezing revealed where Elia must be, for she had inherited the same trouble with the lungs, but her premature birth sadly had made her suffer a worse form. 

A not so scared shriek from Oberyn, followed by a strained laughter from Elia, told him that Doran had managed to caught his two younger siblings. 

“Now, look what you two did. Throwing blood oranges on mother and father when they were having a nap together…” Doran started, before Oberyn spoke up: 

“But it was just for fun, Doran! And it is easier to hit when you are two persons!”

To be fair, Ihsan had realized the funny side of the prank when the first shock had passed, especially with how Aria had looked with half her face coloured from the overripe blood orange. And it was not like he had been spared either. 

“Alright, the punishment will be a family war with blood oranges. You tree against me and Ihsan.”

That was the only warning Aria gave her children, before they had to duck for any flying blood oranges aimed towards them. 

“Why me too, mother!?” Doran wondered as Elia took cover behind a pillar, Oberyn already running to find some more blood oranges. 

“All siblings must spend time and have fun together, no matter their age or anything else. It strengthens your bonds as brothers and sister.” 

And with those words from her mother, this afternoon formed one of the memories of her childhood that Elia was most fond of in adulthood. The memory of when her family was not the ruling House of Dorne, but acting as any other family where the parents and children loved each other. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X 

Even as she grew up and became a adult, Elia would never forget what her father used to tell her whatever she was unhappy about her health: 

“You are a daughter of the sun, Elia. Take strength from knowing that the sun will always raise at down, no matter what the weather might be. It will always come back, its light and heat even being able of defeating dragons in the long run. Dragons and magic will come and go, but the sun will always be here.” 

A daughter of the Sun. Not just a daughter of House Martell and princess of Dorne. She had been born in the middle of day, with the sun standing at its highest, warming her even from her first cries even as she had been born so early. The sun would give her strength to keep living. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ihsan is a Arabic name meaning Beneficence, kindness
> 
> I imagine that Elia had asthma as part of her delicate health from being born one month premature, and this is the type to be hereditary, aka inherited from family


End file.
